Not the World That I Used to Know
by Neo-digi
Summary: What happened to Lily's soul on the night she sacrificed herself to save her baby? Through events that were called before-hand, that sacrifice makes a parallel universe with a new Lily being born. But due to certain events in her world, she ends up in the universe of her other self. AU
1. Marianne Crawley

Author's Notes: Got to put it out there. Don't own Harry Potter, its scenarios, its characters, etc. It is owned by the lovely JK Rowling and she deserves everything that she has given us to fall in love with. I am only borrowing her characters for a little bit.

Author's Notes 2: Yes, this is an AU fic and I am going to use a rather different approach with the Lily/Sev relationship. And if ya'll need some info, go look up "string theory" or "alternate realities" on wiki. If not, think of something a bit like Sliders if you need a physical reference.

Author's notes 3: Yes this is a rewrite of "Forking Paths" but due to LOADS of anxiety from medical problems, economy, fixing to move 1800 miles across the US of A, and trying to keep my own self sane. I had lacked on the fanfic but now that I've been able to put more hands to keyboard to reshape it a bit, I hope ya'll understand.

**Not the World That I Used to Know**

Prologue

The universe is something that mankind, both muggle and magical, has been trying to discover its secrets since the beginning of the human species. From ancient civilizations to today's muggle scientists and wizarding scholars, cracking the universe's code seems to be nothing but theory. But

what happens if one of the theories has some route in truth? It seems that all things do.

While living in exile and relearning how to live with muggles; my magical training and adopted 'culture' seemed to have been put into question has I learned and later on became obsessed with on where is the division line between the two worlds? I would read an muggle scientific machine that its only purpose is to move atoms along a long oval tube to smash into each to, get this, create micro black holes.

Now my Hogwarts education I learned about the stars, planets, and other spacial objects in Astronomy for seven years and NEVER has the thought of the mention of black holes ever came up. So as the overachiever that I am, I had to know more about this experiment. I listened to a rather interesting muggle astrophysicist at a rather impressive planetarium in New York City talk about the possibility that within an actual black hole could be an universe in there. So there could be an infinite amount of universes that exist at the same time, right next to each other...

The multiverse.

I'm sorry if I am getting ahead of myself but I promise you that there is a point to what I am saying about how I, Lily Joanna Evans, seem to exist in my universe while, in a possible universe, I do not exist anymore and I got to know the people and its world and rules.

What I'm trying to say is, maybe when the atoms that crashed into each other, and the few moments a black hole was created... Could an universe been created from a single event from another universe thus making a parallel universe?

From I gather once I entered my doppelganger's home universe, that a single act of sacrifice and the unforeseeable reaction created by said act could have created ME.

Now that I have gave you a heads up, here is how a simple act of events not just proved the American astrophysicist's theory but how I got to live again with people I lost and loved. Especially one particular wizard.

Chapter 1: Marianne Crawley

Salem, Massachusetts

August 10, 2012

The weather would have been considered perfect to every American witch or wizard on the grounds of Essex County. In the middle of the lush green manicured grounds, safe within the magical wards to keep muggles and selected Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, was a full sized Quidditch pitch along with athletic areas such as a full half-mile track behind the large institution of Salem Institute of Magic. The building itself was constructed shortly after the legendary Salem Witch Trials in 1692. In fact, the whole school and its grounds stood on the sight around that the slave Tituba, who happened to be a Squib trying to illegally learn magic at the time, would try to get girls like Abigail Williams and Betty Parris to go into the woods and read from the German text Malleus Maleficaru.

As many people in the American and European wizarding communities that the text was a big fraud so the few magical folks, who did live in Salem, in those troubling times tried to convey that the thirteen girls were faking their ailments on people that had wronged them. Everyone in Wizarding America knows of the story. Of how nineteen innocent muggles were hung, one was pressed to death, and thirteen people died in prison before they met their execution date.

Yet even with all of this awful history, Marianne Crawley found it home. The weather was nothing combined to her native England but seeing some of the old building structures from various centuries made her feel like home. The main building of the Institute still had the red brick shine against the sun's rays like it was newly made a few days ago. Yet the age showed with the various vines going up and down the sides of the school. Some of the vines sprinkled with white, lavender, red orange, and white star shaped flowers. That was what Marianne liked the most teaching here. She had unrestricted access to go to parts of the school to sit amongst the vast valley of crawling flowers. Sometimes she would pick a few and arrange them down her long dark chocolate brunette hair that some of the students told her that it looked like a lion's mane.

She never-minded the comments as she treated herself to her monthly floral hair accessories. She would treat her thick locks are in curls through the sides and back to add volume as she made her own little crown of flowers. Her naturally thick hair always had to be treated with a curling iron so it would not fall flat and straight. If she even tried to pull that off, she would comments from her students if she was having a bad day or did some guy dump her and that is why she couldn't pay any attention to her hair.

If they only knew. She thought. It was easily living in this wizarding community. Everyone was open and helpful; there was no prejudice about muggleborns or half-breeds here in America. Granted there were werewolf reservations near Yellowstone National Park. She knew of a few former students who had graduated from Salem and had gotten jobs as park rangers to be Oblivators if muggles had come around werewolves running the park during the full moon. It had helped that these werewolves still had their sane mind after the transformations thanks to the Wolfsbane Potion that had been branded okay by the Ailments and Remedies Tribunal (A.R.T.) near the American Wizarding Ministry. Some of the old European wizarding ways still snuck over and stayed as people migrated in and became one of the biggest magical melting pots and communities in the world.

A long whistling hoot suddenly got Marianne out of her thoughts as could she her snowy owl, Cassandra, flew down slowly so that her mistress could extend an arm and handed perfectly on the dragon skinned gloved arm. "Thank you, Cassie." Marianne's perfect southern accent purred out as she stroked her owl's head before getting the letter that was lodged on the side of the leg. "You can go now; Ah think Mrs. Barn is waitin' for ya with some new treats she just made." After a kiss on her owl's head, Cassandra flapped her wings and flew off to the tall tower on near the half-mile track that was part Owlery and part flying-lessons runways.

Marianne looked at the letter in fear. She could tell from the delicate handwriting that it was from. She could only imagine the bravery it took for both her friend from across the pond and her owl to give her this with risking their lives. Breathing slowly she put aside her thoughts and ripped open the letter. At first glance, the letter looked like garble with strange symbols. Yet Marianne and her pen-pal had easily made a method of communication that could easily go through the Ministry's mail check. So the witch flicked her arm straight and her willow wand appeared from a hostler hidden in her long black faux-fake Gucci fur coat, with a flick and a few chants in Latin, the parchment's message rearranged itself back into English.

**Dear Faline,**

**I am sorry for the gaps between correspondences but things with the Ministry of Magic have become a battlefield. Now do know this is second and even third hand information but it will have to do. Pius Thicknesse has recently been named Minister of Magic after the bloody death of Rufus Scrimgeour. Poor fellow faced against Fenrir Greyback and didn't last a few minutes. I know. I was there to put my hand on his throat to check for a pulse.**

**Everyone with a Ministry position had to beat the appointing of Pius Thicknesse but I have the vague idea that he is under the Imperius Curse over that D.E. Yaxley, the pink frog Dolores Umbridge. I do not know if she has taken the mark but her Grinch-like smile gave me shivers that could only be matched by the first phases of my transformation.**

**Yet I am not here to tell you of this appointment of Thicknesse but other pressing matters. As you know I have gain trust within Fenrir's pack and with certain Y.K.W. Supporters to get me a position at the Department of Mysteries. Not just a lowly thrall but a mid-management job because of my "superior and unique" circumstances.**

**I have become an Advisor for the Time Room as an Unspeakable. I have heard through disillusioned extendable-ears that Y.K.W. wants the workers to work on a special project that has to do with the Time-Turners and a wild theory that Y.K.W. has worked up to help him to start his global-campaign against mainland Europe. What he would need of Time Turners puzzles and but I thought I would let you know, Flower. You are the only one that has been able to stand up against Y.K.W. without any fear. You have already escaped him twice.**

**Please think about coming back over here and I can try to get you as much access to the Ministry as I can. They changed certain access points and entrances from Muggle London the last time you 'visited' Y.K.W.**

**Sincerely,**

**Romulus**

Marianne finally exhaled. It was getting worst than the last time. Now the Imperiused Minister of Magic with Yaxley probably acting as Deputy Secretary. Y.K.W. is now interested in the Time Room in the Department of Mysteries? What could interest him so much? How would change time make him more powerful that he already is? Before Y.K.W. took out the previous Headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, Albus had made several port keys that would take muggleborn adults and families to different parts of the world. No one knew where they would end up. She wanted to fight alongside Dumbledore but he casted her aside and threw her a pair of woolen socks at her. She knew what he did. It was a Port Key to America.

Her new home.

She still has those socks in a keepsake box underneath her bed.

"Okay..." Marianne gave a long drawn out sigh. "I got to go back. Thanks goodness school doesn't start 'til next week." Some of her flowers started to fall as she shook her head, trying to formulate a plan. "Okay, go get my things... Tell Headmistress Parris that I need a leave of absence. She will understand, I hope." She turned from the hanging garden and started to the small building that had a door leading downstairs into one of the hallways of the school.

The clacking of her black three inch heels echoed throughout the hallway until she could her stairway that lead to the staff quarters and at the dead end of the huge cathedral-sized hallways and ceilings was the Head of School's office. Or rather a larger statue of a pure gold turkey on a roman style column. It looked grand with a velvet red drapery behind the statue.

"Qui plantavit curabit." Marianne's accent was elegantly fluid as she spoke the password to Headmistress's Parris' office. The turkey gobbled once and the statue and column disappeared so that only the drapery was in front of her. The thought of a smile rose from the end of her lips as she parted the drapes and was instantly apparated to a different room. The drapes went back into position and a faint gobble was heard as she walked up to the Headmistress.

"Marianne? How do I owe this pleasure?" The white haired woman with a heart shaped face and larger brown eyes that it made Marianne think of a wise owl.

"Headmistress, I had just gotten some terrible news about what is happenin' in-"

"Yes, I heard about the appointment of Mr. Thicknesse." Bubo Parris nodded slightly that made her white hair made in tendrils, sculpted around her heart face, bounce. "Poor, poor, poor people. So many refugees came through the Emergency Wizarding Port-Underground. You were included, yes?"

Marianne looked at her employer stone faced. "Yes I was, Ma'am."

"And I daresay that you want to help your kinsmen?" The Headmistress's large owl eyes finally locked onto Marianne's green almond shaped eyes. As if she was trying to find something.

The thirty-year old witch knew exactly what Headmistress Parris was trying to do. She had been taught by Dumbledore himself on Occlumency and Legilimency shortly after graduating from Hogwarts and joining the Order of the Phoenix along with her three best friends during their years at school. She didn't want Bubo to know the contents of the letter so Marianne quickly put up a memory as if she was thinking about going home to see if she had gotten anything in Muggle post. She had ordered a DVD box set of this muggle medical drama called "Grey's Anatomy". She had fallen in love with the Dr. Owen and the exploits of the hospital between doctors, interns, and nurses.

"Yes Ah do. I am one of the few members of the Order and I did make a promise to Dumbledore... And to his portrait that Ah will try to find a way to bring down the D.E. And Y.K.W." She stated point blank.

"And with your teaching position?" The old witch finally took her eyes off of Marianne and started to hand a piece of meat to her pet kneazle, Katniss.

"Ah will either give in my resignation or have one of the student-teachers to temporarily replace me during my leave." Marianne did not want to put in her pink-slip. She had loved teaching, being a supporter to muggleborn students who were getting used to the magical world, and most of all, she was the teacher sponsor for the school's show choir. It was the only time that she could let her hair down and be on an equal level with her students.

"Resignation? You have too harsh, Marianne." Headmistress Parris chuckled to herself. "Of course I would have one of the student teachers take over her class load. Now Ms. Holiday would be ideal for taking over your Charms classes and the afternoons with your show choir."

"Ms. Holiday?" Marianne's accent went up a pitch in hesitation. "Well can ya have someone watch her because Ah don't want to come back and have my students singin' heavily sexually innuendo songs. They're supposed to be practicing for Sectionals in October."

"Oh don't worry, Marianne." Bubo shook her head, tendrils and her long French-braid tossed back and forth. A faint laugh from her sounded like a hoot. "Now, you get yourself to the airport. I imagine that the Floo Network from any part of America to Europe is on heavy guard."

With a happy sigh, the young witch nodded with a smile. "Thank you, Ma'am. I'll try to be back in a few weeks at the very least."

"I'm sure you will." Headmistress Parris smiled, holding Katniss in her arms.

August 12, 2012

In the small apartment that belonged to Marianne, she was cleaning with a few cleaning spells and was hoping that Ms. Harrington, a student teacher to Mrs. Poe in Transfiguration, would be kind to her apartment. She had to have someone live in her apartment in downtown Salem so that her landlord didn't think that Marianne had abandoned and not paid the rent.

So she asked the bold and assertive-minded, Silvie Harrington, originally from Gelsenkirchen, Germany who married a wizard who was undercover as an U.S. Air Force Tech Sergeant. Silvie had been the only true friend that Marianne had made after she left the United Kingdom. So when she found out that the house that Silvie and her husband was going in foreclosure, it was perfect timing for Marianne to ask if they wanted to say at her apartment while she was on "vacation" because of a "death of a family member". So after 'Confunded' the landlord so that he would accept Silvie and Henry as the apartment leasers. So before Marianne left with only a single small velvet bag with a zip-tie that she enchanted. She had confiscated this rather useful bag from a student had been trying to bring to steal century old relics of the school to sell on the black market. She had found it useful and it made her think of Mary Poppin's "carpet bag". She smiled as she imagined pulling a floor lamp from the small velvet bag.

After a once over, Marianne looked at her bare apartment with sadness. She had removed everything that was personal to her, shrink it down, and put it in a large moving box that was in her cupboard. She had wanted the Harrington's to decorate the place as they please. To make it really feel like home.

The only thing that Marianne had put in her bag was her magically forever-powered up DVD player, her DVD collection, and her iPhone with its cables. She had placed in a backpack to use her carry on. Her clothes were also in the velvet bag.

The only note that was on the glass dining room table before she closed the door was...

Take care of Cassandra.

-M.C.

August 13, 2012

Paris, France

The eight-hour flight went by for the muggles who are used to airplanes, for Marianne, since the only time she had taken one to see her older sister and her family for Christmas in Washington, D.C. She has not become a fan of it, even with all of her knowledge and blending in as a muggle. Staying in a cramp seat and trying to watch season one of "Grey's Anatomy" with her earphones in the DVD player. Trying to zone out the fat walrus of a man in a suit that looked like it was trying to show all of his body rolls in every angle.

So as she got her backpack from the overhead compartment, the long walk from the terminal, through the concourse, and to the bagging area where she knew where to go for the secret Floo Network that lead to the Channel. It was only logical for her to get into Britain using the English Channel tram. Not many D.E. would even get close to something so... Well muggle.

So after going through the food court employee's only door and going into the Unisex restroom where the "I" was missing, the door opened to many wizard and witches waiting for their turn to floo to their destination. After a good thirty minutes in her queue, she finally got a hand full of black powder and called out clearly "English Channel Entrance!" and threw the powder into the fireplace, instantly disappearing.

The first thing Marianne saw as the green fire evaporated around her, she saw a man in green and blue robes with his wand out, checking people as they appeared before they can buy their Channel ticket. "Afternoon Ma'am, just a quick look over." The English wizard grinned at her, she could see that he had a black-eye and his canine tooth knocked out. She tried not to look as the wand scanned her and her backpack.

"Ma'am?" Black-eye man asked.

"Yes, sir. Anythin' wrong?" Marianne put her accent, putting on her "southern hospitality" smile.

"My wand tells me you're transfigured. What is the reason, ma'am? You're not in trouble." Black-eye looked at her with concern and trying his best to show authority.

"Well... Ah am... Gosh... Here" Marianne blushed wildly as she pulled her muggle passport, pulled her willow wand from its holster again, and waved over the page that had her image and details of her in the passport.

"You're a refugee?" Black-eye looked at her in awe. "You're going back to there... WHY?" He was intrigued.

"Family." Marianne had dropped her southern accent and it quickly went to an accent that people would associate with "the North".

"Well, I hope everything goes well and you come back safely, Ms. Evans." Black-Eye nodded and pulled on a lever so the small gate that was holding her back swung open. "Count your blessing on the Channel tram, miss. You'll need it."

"Yes, I know." The witch said, looking down at her passport as she started down into another queue to purchase her ticket. Instead of the image of a soft face with curly chocolate brown hair with wearing 'librarian' glasses, the image was of a woman who looked very athletic in her body frame and face, dark red hair with curls at the ends framed her face, her green almond shaped eyes were still the same and so were the glasses.

Name: Lily J. Evans

D.O.B.: October 31, 1981

P.O.B.: Hammersmith, London, England

M.S.: Muggleborn

Wand(s): Willow, Unicorn hair, 10 1/4"; Ebony, Dragon heartstring, 14 1/4"

"I'll need all of luck I can get."


	2. Remnants of the Phoenix

Author's Notes: Got to put it out there. Don't own Harry Potter, its scenarios, its characters, etc. It is owned by the lovely JK Rowling and she deserves everything that she has given us to fall in love with. I am only borrowing her characters for a little bit.

**Not the World That I Used to Know**

Chapter 2: Remnants of the Phoenix

The tram through the English Chunnel was as expected, crowded with people doing Face Time on their iPhone or similar devices, or mothers trying to keep their young children entertained with those tablet devices. Yet Lily, aka Marianne, couldn't take her eyes off of the little family a few feet away from her, taking up the large window seat. A little black haired girl about four was excitingly trying to impress her father. She was sitting on her father's lap with the silver tablet device in her small hands, trying to call out letters and colors.

It was a scene like this that hurt the most for Lily. That Y.K.W. (You Know Who) had taken away things that she had always driven for after Hogwarts. To graduate with her family in the stands, go to work at St. Mungo's hospital as a pediatric healer, then eventually get married. Yet that _man_, loosely using the term, had taken away everything she wanted and loved. Saw former classmates and friends die from Y.K.W.'s D.E.s blasting away the Killing Curse to every direction.

"Miss?"

Lily shoulders jumped at the new voice. She did not notice the EuroStar tram had stopped. People were getting their footing and were waiting patiently for the large fiberglass sliding doors to open to the London Underground. "Yes, I'm so sorry." As quick as a golden snitch she slipped into her southern accent, pulling out her ticket to the uniformed man to check.

Lily switched out her coats from her little handy bag in the women's lavatories stalls. Changing clothes was the only way that 'Romulus' could tell it was her from anyone yet at the normal meeting place. After looking at her twin leather wand holsters to see if they were tightened enough, she pulled out a black leather biker jacket. One of the few things she indulges for herself, it was punky, and it was the perfect signal for Romulus to see her. The collar flaps in front were silver studded from top to bottom with a matching set of larger studs all over the wrist area of the sleeves. She had made a few look like spikes, but were dulled, to give her a more punk look.

It wasn't the studs that were the marker. It was the large jewel encrusted phoenix on the back. When she commissioned the jacket, she had brought many bags worth of red, yellow, and orange rubies, garnets, and sapphires for different parts of the phoenix and the fire it was coming from. The goblin commissioner never questioned where the jewels came from and that was all right with Lily.

She quickly put a charm on the jewels to make them look like fake gemstones so no one would try to look to see what karats they were. As she slipped the jacket on and looked at herself in a small floating mirror, she undid her hair to give a feathered look around her face. She saw it on some 80s actress who wore a red swimsuit on TV and liked the look. After transfiguring her blue jeans to black leather trousers, her sneakers to knee high black riding boots, and a very low-cut red fleece top. "I think this will do." She smiled to herself, keeping the accent.

After shrinking her backpack and mirror into her handy bag and pocketed it inside of her leather jacket, she exited the lavatories and easily found the first exit to go up topside into downtown London. The Waterloo Underground to be exact. She would have got off near Westminster but it had closed off because of 'domestic terrorists' (aka the D.E.s) that have had it shut down for three years. So she had to walk all the way from Waterloo Station, down York Road, and across the Westminster Bridge to get to her meeting place.

Walking didn't bother her one bit. She had always loved exercising since she was a little girl. Yet walking in her riding boots were starting to kill her feet. She had to look the part that would make her look like a muggle every time she came back to her old stomping grounds. Making herself look like a biker chick.

"Rise, rise, and rise again?" A hushed voice cooed behind Lily as the last few people got off the bridge. She could see the vast building of the House of Parliament to her left. If it wasn't for the familiarity of the voice, she would have disabled the man before you could say "Blasted-Ended Skrewts".

"Remus!" Lily gasped, whipping her head so fast that her friend almost got a face full of hair. "You couldn't wait 'til we got to the Abbey?" She softly hit him in the shoulder. She hated more than anything is to be sneak upon like that. Especially by friends who know this about her.

"Well hello to you too." The tall shaggy brown suited man behind smiled softly. It was Remus Lupin. One of the few male friends she had actually liked and considered part of her inner circle. Especially after joining the Order.

"Still getting' grayer I see," Lily smiled sadly and reached up to flick a bit of light gray hair that was covering on one side of his face. He chuckled and ran his hand through his hair and made sure the longer bits were behind his ears. "Is Teddy causing' that? What is he? Four years old?" She asked as the two walked side by side on the pavement as they passed across Parliament to be in sights of the big Westminster Abbey.

"Oh Teddy is just like his mother. Changing hair color every hour." Remus exhaled deeply, his eyes glazed over a bit. "He's going through an aquamarine to royal blue phase right now."

"Huh. Oh, is the Ministry still having everyone call him, 'Theodore' in public?" Lily looked up at her werewolf friend. The stopped at a crosswalk and waited for the sign to turn for them to go across, the Abbey just in their sights.

"Yes. I don't think I ever told you but shortly after his name was written in the book at Hogwarts at his birth, the D.E.-Ministry officials stormed upon us at Dora's parents' house and demanded to give him a more 'sophisticated' name for his 'unique' abilities and of his parents." Remus's tired eyes slowly looked down at Lily. Looking a bit ashamed of himself.

"I've heard of baby naming' regulations around the world but for western civilization... The Ministry must be enjoying' goin' back to the Dark Ages." Lily huffed, blowing some of her feathered brown hair from her face just as they crossed the street to go right into the property of Westminster Abbey. Big Ben from the other side of the street started to chime so the two quickly walked into the Abbey to avoid the loudness.

"Don't you miss the days of apparating anywhere, Lil?" Remus quietly asked, trying to change the subject.

"Of course I do, Moony. But with me been' "Undesirable No. 1" all over the entire country. I've had to get used to be been'... Muggle. Plain. Somewhat ordinary." Lily folded her arms around her chest, her leather jacket making small squeaking sounds as the folds rubbed against each other. "I mean, it's not a bad thing. I spent the first nine years of my life living' that way. So it was like getting back on the horse."

Remus chuckled. Walking down the grand gothic cathedral ceilings in the Nave, or West Gate entrance, of the church his chuckled echoed softly down in the air. "I see America has really become a part of you, Lil. You've always had a knack for quickly adapting to your surroundings..."

"Remus, please tell me why I'm here." Lily cut to the chase, looking up at her friend.

With a quick look around, Remus pulled out his wand from his inside coat pocket and grabbed Lily's forearm. "Come, lets see the Sisters."

The two walked down to the area where it was reserved burials of monarchs and their consorts. It was quite easy to find the huge tombs of Queens Mary I and her younger sister Elizabeth I. The two tombs were shining long gold with black columns surrounding the two tombs. The grandeur of the room would normally take the breath away from tourists but for Remus and Lily, the conversation between them would be taking Lily's breath away in a bad way.

Quickly with wand in hand, Remus cast _Muffliato _around them as they pressed against the wall between them and the tombs. "As I stated in my letter, I work in the Time Room at the Department of Mysteries. There are been an increased number of Unspeakables in the room and also one of Y.K.W.'s lieutenants."

"Bella?"

"Afraid not. It's Crouch's son, Barty Jr. He has been making demands of my staff and I to work on a new Time Turner." Remus's usual pale blue eyes seemed to shine with excitement from his news. The hold onto Lily's forearm squeezed tighter and he looked directly into her green eyes with all seriousness. "Ever since the D.E.s escaped Azkaban and tore through the Department of Mysteries looking for that damn prophecy, our work has been nothing but working on a time device the prophecy described."

"There was another one?" Lily pulled her head back, almost against the stone wall; luckily her thick hair was a bit of a cushion for her head. "But we managed to save the prophecy that Trelawney made over 30 years ago."

Sudden pause and she gasped. "The prophecy made in our third year?"

Remus' eyes looked down sadly, his hair curtaining the sides of his face as if to look ashamed. "Yes. Do you remember what Mary McDonald told you? I wasn't there when you where there to comfort her at the Common Room."

Thinking back to her days at Hogwarts, it was around late May of nineteen-ninety-four. Lily didn't take Divination personally because of all of the reports of Sybil Trelawney being a fraud and was a bit of a public drunk at school.

"Ya, Mary McDonald had Trelawney that day and shortly after being dismissed, Mary said that she was close enough to see Sybil go into a trance-like state and her voice changed." Lily whispered softly, she had eyeballed a group of people who were coming into the room to view the Queen Sisters. It was time to move along and this time it was Lily who led Remus along to go somewhere quieter along the long hallway passing more vaults of dead nobles.

"But do you know what Mary overheard?"

That made Lily suddenly uncomfortable. She had not told her friends since that day when Trelawney, Mary, and herself had to go to Professor Dumbledore's office and all had to swear to keep the contents of the prophecy. It was something that couldn't save Dumbledore from dying by Voldemort's hand but... _This year_was when the thirty-year prophecy was supposed to come true."

"I can't tell you but..." Tears started to form on the edges of her green eyes. She sniffled and tried to hold them back with her jacket sleeve.

"Lily... I can help you if you can tell me. You and I could finally take Y.K.W. down." Remus' eyes started to get excited again but this time holding onto Lily's shoulders gently.

"I can't have you come, Remus, I'm sorry. I was bound not to tell anyone and just droppin' this hint is dangerous enough."

"I thought you'd say that," said Lupin, looking disappointed. "But I might still be of some use to you. You know what I am and now with my new position in the Ministry and being with "_my kind". _I could be a powerful asset than just a pen-pal."

"It's tempting' Remus but you know that _I_have to do this. You would be an accessory to "Undesirable No. 1" and we can't afford that for you and your _family._" Lily hissed the last word. "It's hard enough for 'Theodore' to be himself without the Ministry breathing down Dora's and yours throats."

"He'll be fine. He has Tonks and Andromeda to take care of him. Andromeda is a Black after all. She'll have Narcissa's support if Tonks' werewolf-Gryffindor husband runs off to defy the Dark Lord." said Lupin in a strange cold tone.

Time seemed to slow down for Lily just as she could hear sounds of people apparating into Westminster Abbey.

Everything was fixing to go to hell.


	3. Bryn Myrddin

Author's Notes: Got to put it out there. Don't own Harry Potter, its scenarios, its characters, etc. It is owned by the lovely JK Rowling and she deserves everything that she has given us to fall in love with. I am only borrowing her characters for a little bit.

**Not the World That I Used to Know**

Chapter 3: Bryn Myrddin

The dark black smoke of the Death Eaters missile down around the Queen Elizabeth I's tomb. The sounds of them appearing sounded like a strong gust of wind. Muggles were blown back from the aftershock the massive apparition and slammed into different parts of the room. One woman even crashed against the black columns of Mary's I tomb.

Five Death Eaters materialized from their grand entrance, one of them crackling like a banshee. It could only be one person; Bellatrix Lestrange. She was Lord Voldemort's first lieutenant and number one worshipper. Even with getting in years, sixty-one to be exact, the madness in her face still made her look like Lily last saw her in twenty-two.

With Bellatrix were her pureblood husband and their brood of two fully-fledged Death Eaters. Electra Lestrange looked like an exact replica of her mother but with straighter raven black hair. She even shared her mother's menacing grin. To Electra's right was her younger brother, Adolpho, who Lily could remember clearly because he went to Hogwarts and was in her year.

The third person with them was Bartemius Crouch Junior. Remus' boss.

"Electra. Adolpho. Do Mummy a favor and round up the muggles. How dare they damage Queen Mary's resting place. Don't you **dare **touch her sister." Bellatrix cooed and rolled her eyes to her children, who were instantly stupefying and _Imperiused _the muggles. Lifting them up to put them in a corner of the long room. Lily said nothing as Adolpho's wand threw out chains to wrap around the captives.

"Remus," Barty Jr. walked up casually from the Death Eater group with arms opened wide. "Why in the Merlin would you be out here in London with this... _woman_?" His beady brown eyes stared at the disguised Lily like she was dessert.

Electra, who spotted the look from her fiancée, whipped around after tying the muggles up and walked over to Lily and Remus. "Only one thing that you make him says our Dark Lord's name... If he successfully got his contact back on come back to her native home." A sneering curl of her lip spread throughout her face in triumph. She pulled out her Cedar wand from her robe pocket and pointed it directly at Remus.

Lily gasped internally. She had wondered why Remus was so persisted about coming along with her to finish the mission that Dumbledore put upon Lily before his death.

Remus was _Imperiused._

"Thank you, Remus. You may go home and be with your wife and little Teddy." Barty Jr. looked directly at the werewolf. After a gentle "thank you" from Remus, a loud 'POP' from his apparition.

Now it was the Lestranges and Crouch Jr. vs. Lily.

"Now Miss "Faline", if you will just hand over your wand to us, we will have no trouble." Crouch Jr. seemed to be the one in control of the operation. Lily could see Bellatrix and her husband look pissed at them we having to be subordinates to their future son-in-law.

"Ah think you might have the wrong person..." Lily, slipping into her deep south accent but seeming to comply with putting her right hand in her left sleeve, slowly pulling out the handle of her wand. She looked directly at Bellatrix the whole time. Lily could remember when the Battle of Hogwarts was Bellatrix took out Mrs. Weasley easily with a _Reducto_ spell.

Bellatrix and her daughter looked closely to see the willow wand be pulled out from the intruder's sleeve. "Now hand it over, mudblood until we can figure you out. Trying to get into the werewolves' pants?" Electra smirked as she edged forward to accept the wand.

Lily did not answer as the trick up her sleeve, at the very end of her wand, within the holster, was a little black bag. "Shut it, Electra!" Lily's voice came back into full force, throwing the black bag from the end of her wand into the air and quickly shot, with her other wand, a quick spell to make the bag explode!

_Got to love those Wheezes!_ Lily grinned to herself as darkness swirled all around the six people and filled up the room. She had always had emergency bags of _Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder_ from the Weasley shop that she got imported into the states by the Weasley family.

"Ta da, Bella_bitch!"_Lily laughed and quickly apparated out of Westminster Abbey.

**Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales**

After a loud "POP" from the apparition and the few little wisps from the Instant Darkness Powder going off of Lily's clothes, she opened her eyes. For a quick moment she looked around to see if the Lestrange family had followed her. She knew that since Y.K.W. had come into power he has tried, with Umbridge's full support, to try bringing back the Trace to Muggleborns. The same Trace that young wizard and witches had onto them once they became students at Hogwarts until the age of seventeen. Yet it was the least of Lily's worries. She had to find cover and she knew of only one place.

_ Where's the blasted Port-Key?_ Lily thought, looking out in the vastness of the greenery of the lands of Carmarthen. She could see the old gray stone Lesneven Bridge that went over the beautiful clear waters of a nearby town near Carmarthen Bay. She had only seen this beautiful sight one time back in two-thousand-two.

"Stop it, now." She muttered to herself, rubbing her eyes that seemed to glaze over the town and the beautiful few. This was not the reason that she came here after nearly getting caught by the Lestrange/Crouch Death Eaters. She had to go to the only place she knew that she would be one-hundred percent safe. To an Unplottable place that she would only have access to.

Because of _him_.

Looking at her Ebony wand, her heart ached at the sight of it. What she had done to take it. It was blasphemy to take a wizard's wand before their burial. It was the only way Lily knew that she could have access to one of the most secure places in Britain under the Reign of Lord Voldemort. Worse yet, it had been Dumbledore's portrait that had told her to take the wand.

_Dumbledore_. Everything happened because of him.

"Stop it, Lils. You're going mad." Lily shook her head, running her hands through her still transfigured brown hair. It had always helped her to clear her mind like that.

"Okay... Port Key... Then to the Manor." Lily said to the black wand. She knew if she walked along the Bay to the vast oak forest that some of the muggles used to partying and to look for ghosts that the port key would be. Even after she found out that a large portion of it had been dug up by muggle historians.

After a few hours of walked, transfiguring her biker boots to black hiking boots on the way, she could see what she was looking for. A mass amount of oak trees being surrounded by odd rock formations with muggle graffiti mixed in with ages of, remembering her Ancient Rune knowledge, rune marks that seemed to make twisted patterns with different animal symbols carved into the trees. The Port Key was near. She climbed over a few fallen logs and squeezes into some of the small crevices of the rune blocks of stones. She could see the small bits of light where an ancient oak tree once called home.

Lily knew she was at the base of _Bryn Myrddin o_r translated as "Merlin's Hill" in English. She could see the damage the muggles made to dig up most of the tree for their scientific studies and trying to disprove of Merlin's existence. Of course she knew of his existence because her best friend could look up his family tree all the way back to Merlin. Back to when Merlin was a Slytherin himself at Hogwarts some time after the school was founded.

"There it is." Lily sighed with a smile, she looked over to see where a wedge of from it could have been a shovel or maybe magical slicing spell had uncovered the secret Port Key. Sticking up from the muddy ground, the oak roots seem to be swirling around the object, was a small statuette of an oak stag with barely legible writing on its flank of "J.C." and "Rome" in runes.

Pulling out her two wands, she placed each tip at the tallest antler of the statuette. Suddenly all of the animal carvings around her started to glow faintly green with white sparkles as the ancient Port Key magic was charging up. Lily could fell the left over magic of the ancient wizard go through her wands and arms like electricity and slowly her transfigured face disappeared. Only the thick dark red bushy hair and her more soft looks reappeared. Just like at Gringotts in Diagon Alley, there must have been magic to cancel out concealment enchantments.

The magic connected without Lily's body seem to make her happy. As she closed her eyes, she left the green swirls of the ancient apparition spell engulf her. Above in one of the tree trunks a carved out serpent glowed the brightest amongst them all.

Lily Evans was gone and only the small stag stood in the small cove.

**Unplottable Location, Wales**

The mist of green ancient port-key magic exploded around Lily as she appeared looked up to see that was inside of a hallowed out tree. An older Oak than the debris that she had to mangle with to get to the secret Port-Key. Moss was hanging from different heights and sides inside of the trunk. It seemed to have covered the V-shaped opening in front of her. Just enough light coming through the moss to see the building just a few yards away from her.

As she crawled out of the trunk and got on her feet, the vastness of the manor took over all view. The large old and twisted Oak tree stood in front of a vast estate in front of her. It had always taken her breath away of the handsome look of the over five-hundred year old home. The front of the estate had last been remodeled in the mid-nineteen century front with roman high ceiling that had inside two large black double doors. The more ancestral parts of the home were on the two different wings that seemed to have been covered with traveling wines. Covering up most of the gray stone and most of the large day windows.

_ Here I am again._ Lily sadly thought as she dusted off her black leather jeans at the knees before walking towards the entrance. The pitch-black doors seemed to be in good order despite the lack of maintenance by the late-Master of the Manor. What caught her eye were the strange door knockers that intertwine to both doors. One was a large silver snake with its body spread out against the doors but its head and tail curled up into circles. In the middle of the circles was a large slightly rusty bronze eagle with its wings spread over the snake's body and its beak open like in a shriek. People who didn't know this house would think it would be impossible to get through the doors but again, using the Ebony wand in her left hand, she entered the tip of the wand inside of the mouth of the eagle and turned it counter clock-wise.

T he eagle folded its massive wings against it body and the body seem to split right down the middle. Only giving Lily enough time to take out the wand out before it closed its mouth. The snakes underneath it also seem to split down the middle of its body. Many sounds of clicking locks, unlike Gringotts' own vaults when they were being opened by the Goblins, took a while before the double-doors finally opened up for her.

"Welcome home, Master." A booming voice from nowhere called from inside the mansion as the doors completely opened for the non blood-related witch.

" I wish your real Master of the House was here." Lily whispered before she entered the large entrance hall.

_"Expelliarmus!" A boy with spectacles and messy black hair called out. The wand that he was aiming at hit dead on with its target. The victim's wand flew twelve feet into the air and fell with a little thud in the grass. A boy laughed at the scene._

_Everyone outside of Hogwarts lawn all gathered to watch. Some of them had gotten to their feet and were edging nearer to watch. Some looked apprehensive, others entertained. As the scene went on, one watched the boy on the ground glare at the group of four boys who were harassing him._

_"How'd the exam go, Snivelly?" asked the grinning assailant._

_"I was watching him, his nose was touching the parchment," said another boy in the group. "There'll be great grease marks all over it, they won't be able to read a word."_

_"You – wait," the tall boy, Severus Snape, stared up at James Potter and his coons with an expression of purest loathing. "You – wait..."_

_"Wait for what?" Potter asked coolly. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"_

_Snape let out a stream of mixed swearwords and hexes, but his wand being ten feet away nothing happened._

_"Wash out your mouth," said James coldly. "Scourgif-"_

_"Langlock!" A girl's scream was hard from somewhere in the crowd. Just like that, James Potter's tongue stuck itself to the roof of his mouth. And added to accidental injury, his bottom teeth were burying into the underside of his tongue._

_The crowd of people divided to reveal the red-headed Lily Evans. __**PREFECT**__ Evans. Who was giving Potter and his gang dark looks with her beady green eyes. Everyone knew she could go from sweet and being friendly to everyone to being almost like Filch when it came to someone dueling._

_Especially on her best friend._

_"LEAVE HIM ALONE!"_

_The other three boys were trying to remember the counter-spell to 'Langlock' but it was proving to be useless. They knew they were going to be into a tongue-lashing with Evans soon to follow._

_"Leave him alone," Lily repeated. She saw looking at James with every sign of great dislike. "What's he done to __you?"_

_"Well it's more the fact that he exists, Evans!" A mouse faced short-haired boy, Peter Pettigrew, squeaked with sudden courage before his face flushed remembering who she was._

_"You four think you're all funny," she said coldly. She walked up, wand still pointed at the group while she picked up Snape's wand. "But you whole lots are just arrogant, bullying toe rags. Especially YOU, Potter." She walked backwards until she stood by Severus as he got up from the ground. "Leave him alone. Attacking an innocent person, twenty points each from you lot. And be sure I'll tell Professor McGonagall all about this."_

_Potter and coons ran and pushed through the crowd that had been watching the action. Peter yelling something about going to Madam Pomfrey to fix Potter's tongue. But since, once again, Lily Evans had put Potter in his place lower than a toadstool, everyone else started to disperse._

_Severus, still on the ground, sighed heavily before looking up at his best friend __. "You didn't have to do that. __I had it under control.__"_

_Lily's face turned from the fierce lioness to her normal self, smiling up at him. " __You? Control? Those two words don't exist when you're need that lot, Sev." She knelt down to help him up on his feet. "__What would you have done if I didn't come? He could have 'Impedimenta' after you were disarmed. You know how quick he can be." She put her hand on Severus' robe sleeve, rubbing up and down his forearm lazily. " And knowing him he could have tried to pull your trousers down and show your underpants to the whole school."_

_He mentally and physically flinched at the thought. " Yes, you know __**exactly **__how to make me feel better, Lily." Severus said sarcastically. In Severus language, it meant he was joking. Lily had learnt a long time ago about his quirks expressing his feelings._

_" Well it would have happened, you know." Lily's bottom lip puckered up, furrowing her brow. " I know you and your temper, Sev."_

_" As I do yours." Severus looked down at her. He had always been a head and a half taller than her but seeing her look up at him with her emerald eyes always made the moments of his usually dreadful day worthwhile._

_ The stare of his smoldering dark eyes made Lily blush. She knew that was his way to tease her. To get her to blush. It had been a constant game since they were nine years old. As they stared into each other's eyes they didn't see that the Hogwarts grounds started to disappear around them. The blades of grass swirled around in mini tornados and before they knew it, Hogwarts disappeared entirely. Severus also disappeared._

_Suddenly Lily was twenty-one years old, wearing only a red jumper and faded jeans. She was in the middle of Godric's Hollow. Right by the home that Severus Snape had gone into hiding because the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort, was gunning for him to join the Death Eaters._

_ Lily finally realized that she was viewing her worst memory. Severus had used a Silence charm on her with a quick Disillusionment Charm as well. She had her wand in her hand but she couldn't move because ALSO he used a very powerful 'Petrificus Totalus Duo' on her so she seems to be stuck to the side of the house._

_All she could do was watch._

_" You had so much potential, son of Eileen Prince. Grandson of Severus Prince. What a family to come from," Lord Voldemort hissed as he addressed the older Snape. "Why would you defy my invitations from your fellow housemates? MacNair and Avery constantly tried to show you the wonders of being with the __**true**__ witches and wizards."_

_Snape stared straight at the red-eyed snaked faced devil. His face was emotionless and he was fighting hard with his Occlumency shield. He could feel the constantly still stabs of Voldemort's Legilimency strike at his mind. The only sign of weakness he would show was his eyes flinching as he mentally deflected the dark magic. " You know it is more to it than that, Riddle!"_

_A loud cry came from Voldemort and suddenly Snape was on all fours, his body contorted in ways that Lily could tell that he was going through the Cruciatus Curse. The scream was too unbearable for her to hear. It was Severus. Sev. __**HER**__ Sev. She could be free to defend him but having watch him who through this._

_But then it would get worst._

_"No one __**DARES**__ calls me by my pathetic, filthy Muggle father's name!" Voldemort roared in rage, still continuing the Cruciatus Curse onto his victim. " I am sorry that your mudblood ha__d__ corrupted your mind, Severus. __It it does save me the trouble to know if you were worthy enough for my cause. You're too weak to be part of the true wizarding race...__" __He aimed his white crooked wand at Severus's chest_

_"SEV!" Lily mouthed through her silencing charm._

_A strong blast of green light burst through Voldemort's wand and struck the young man. Instantly the convulsions of the Cruciatus Curse stopped and Severus fall backwards. Not moving._

"NOOoooooo!" Lily screamed as she flew herself up in bed. Her whole face was in distress from having to relive the memory to an almost nightly basis since that night in two-thousand-two.

3:25 A.M.

After finding the brewing room inside the large two, third room near the herbal garden near the Sun Room. Lily's mind raced as she gotten into that part of the East Wing of the manor. Somehow there had been a status spell over the plants so they when she was gathering materials for a Calming Draught, they were extremely fresh.

Finding the right cauldron from the storage room, the Brewing Room, Lily went through the motions with preparing the potion. She had to dry her wet face with her pajama sleeve so that no tears wouldn't accidently drop into the brew.

_That dream again_, She thought as she stirred the potion a few times, holding her own Willow wand in hand to wait for the right moment to finish the potion off with the bit of magic. _That... man took everything from me. Now I got to live that night over and over again. Oh Sev why did _

_you have to openly defy him?_

"It wasn't like we were together, " Lily said to no one. She took her wand and started to twirl it above the pewter cauldron to mix the ingredients. " We didn't even date when we were at school." Thinking back those days where people would say that Severus and her were attached to the hip.

"You poor thing," A sudden baritone voice wistfully sighed from nowhere. Lily's eyes widen and darted around to see who said those words. The only thing in the Brewing Room was a large portrait of a large black-clad robed man, in his late sixties at least, behind looking like he was brewing something in a very large silver cauldron. Lily saw that this man had Severus' eye shape and but blue as the sea. Short dirty blonde hair receding with sprigs of white flowing out from his temples. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Severus Prince?" Lily softly asked, she flicked her wand to make the brew stop turning, barely seeing that the potion was turning into the right color to say it was properly made.

"The one and only, my dear." Mr. Prince nodded his head curtly. He stopped his portrait brewing and pocketed his wand inside of his large robes. " That boy was always the academic wasn't he? Sometimes he would forget that you even existed because he was so focused on getting Os in every subject?"

The young witch's mouth was opened slightly, her eyes darting with a "How does he know that?" expression. The wizard chuckled and cracked a smile. "Some of my ancestors and descendants DO live in Hogwarts, my dear Evans."

"Oh, yes... I forgot." Lily bit her bottom lip. Back in her fifth year Severus and Lily did some research on the Prince family and found that Princes were going to Hogwarts going back to nearly the founding of the school. Many of the people in the portraits were either directly or indirectly related to the Prince line. " Is there something you need, Mr. Prince?" She asked, mentally kicking herself. Why was she asking a portrait if he needed something?

Mr. Prince chuckled a bit more at the young witch below his portrait. " Well young Evans I know you are not here at Prince Manor as a courtesy call. I've heard from various paintings of what happened at Westminster Abbey." He shook his head in disappointment. "Lily Evans, you didn't think you were walking into a trap with the werewolf, were you?"

Lily matched Mr. Prince's expression with her own disappointed face. " It has been too long since I left. I really thought Remus was telling me something about the Time Room." She walked over to various empty vials to take a sample of her Calming Draught from the cauldron. " I just... walked into it. I should just leave and-"

" No you shall not!" Mr. Prince's baritone voice barked at Lily, his fading blonde brows furrowing together. " My grandson gave his life to save yours, Lily Evans. He always protected you. He wouldn't want you to take this lying down."

"How would you know? He never told me what he was doin' for the Order! He always excluded me!" Lily shouted back. The vial of draught shook in her hands violently. She saw the man exhale deeply and slowly calmed his face.

" Come, I shall show you." Mr. Prince looked to the right of his portrait. "See that door there? Go through it and follow me." Suddenly he disappeared.

"Wait!" She quickly downed the draught and nearly dropped the vial as she pursued the old man. She opened the door to the far right of the large Brew Room and saw a deep staircase that seemed to look like a sudden drop. After casting 'Lumos' with her wand, she could see empty portraits just big enough that could hold Mr. Prince. She could barely see him in them because of his large black robes billowed out like bat's wings.

It seemed that she was going down into the basement area of Prince Manor. She herself has never been but heard from Severus' that it was a type of laboratory that his ancestors have kept over the centuries. As she hit the final step of the staircase and could see an old oak door in front of her. She opened the door and walked in to see into darkness. Even the faintness of her glowing wand tip couldn't penetrate into the room to make any visual difference.

"Come you silly girl! Stop dawdling." Mr. Prince's voice echoed loudly from the center of the room. With the echo of his voice, the different torch pillars around the room came to life with flame. The room quickly illuminated to see large tables, bookcases filled with many curious things, in the center was a grand fireplace that was below Mr. Prince's larger than life portrait. The more curious was the two tables opposite of the fireplace and the contents on them.

Lily silently casted 'Nox' on her wand as she walked slowly into the room. Her eyes were glued to inky-black waves that were shimmering in the light. Some of it was bundled up like yarn and others were being formed into... A cloak? Vest? Gloves?

"Is that Thestral hair?" Lily walked over to the table and picked up one of the seem-to-be leather-woven threstral skin and hair gloves. " And skin? Demiguise hair too? How in Merlin's beard did he... Was he?" She looked up at Severus' grandfather's portrait to an answer.

The late Severus Prince sat down in a wooden armchair behind him and fixed a cushion from under himself. Fixing his robes over the arms of the chair. " Yes, this is what he was doing for the Order. Damn shame for the creatures though. You-Know..." He saw Lily trying not to flinch of saying the longer name of "Y.K.W." and he stopped himself. " The mad man ordered them all killed after he took over Hogwarts. No need for them coming up to the castle last time I've heard."

" Severus was working on this? For who?" Lily tilted her head curiously as she grabbed the other glove, watching them shimmer back and forth from visible and invisible. It couldn't be for Severus himself because the hands look so small. She thought.

" From what the boy told me Dumbledore made him go onto Hogwarts grounds to gather up the animal parts. He could have gotten himself killed earlier than when he did!" Mr. Prince exclaimed as he looked onto the different clothing in disgust. " But no! It was for 'the prophecy' the boy told me."

The gloves feel to the ground, almost being transparent on top of Lily's bare feet. " The prophecy?" Suddenly her mind rushed to the moment when her housemate Mary McDonald witnessed Trelawney that day back in nineteen-ninety-four. "_A black-clad witch shall know the secret of the Dark Lord's selfish mission. She shall help the one who the Dark Lord marked as an equal. Witch with mane of red and emerald eyes will help more than one world and times_."

"ME?" Lily exclaimed. She slowly leaned against the hard table to keep her balance. "But I'm one person! 'Help the one who was marked as an equal'? There's no one we know who has done that."

" Apparently the prophecy is about you, the equal, and time. There has to be something about the Time Room that was true." Mr. Prince nodded slowly. "Severus knew of this and was working on this for you. THAT is why he protected you, Ms. Evans. He knew it was you that was destined with this mission."

Lily looked over the half finished clothes nervously. It had to be true for Severus was always secretive after graduation. Shortly after the both of them were inducted into the Order of the Phoenix. She had most likely thought Severus was recruited for his mastery in Potions and knowing of both defense and offensive of the dark arts. Lily followed in suit because she wanted her parents and sister to be protected by the Order because of their muggle status.

" Are you going to finish his work, Ms. Evans? He did all of this for you and you owe him that." Mr. Prince questioned Lily.

"Okay," Lily exhales deeply and pulled out her handy bag, looking for something. She finds a small hair band and put her mane of red hair into a pony-tail. " Lets do this."


	4. Duel at Death's Door

Author's Notes: Got to put it out there. Don't own Harry Potter, its scenarios, its characters, etc. It is owned by the lovely JK Rowling and she deserves everything that she has given us to fall in love with. I am only borrowing her characters for a little bit.

**Not the World That I Used to Know**

Chapter 4: Duel at Death's Door

Two months later

**October 2012**

It was midnight in London and the city was buzzing with people. As it was becoming midnight the sounds of the city started to quietly calm down. Only a few people were on the pavement waiting for a taxi, trying to enter clubs, or walking home. No one seemed to notice a slightly shimmering shadow coming around different building corners in White Hall.

The figure sneaked over to an old used red phone booth. A street lamps shined, it reflected off of the figure's ebony clothes. Little shimmers of visibility someone could see if they were looking close enough. Yet as the figure closed the phone box door, the lights reflected off of the box's glass.

A faint of a whisper breathed "6...24..42."

"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic, please state your name and business." A voice came from the phone.

" Natalia Romanova. Mission for the Avengers." A slight chuckle came from the person. It was Lily under all of those pieces of black leather, scowl, gloves, and boots. She had customized a jacket that looked like a horse riding coat. Under her scowl she wore a simple muggle ski mask but put goggle lenses so no one could see her eyes. Only other alternations she made were combination of the Disillusionment Charm and the Bedazzling Hex for extra effectiveness.

A button with the false name and claim popped out from the phone. She simply ignored it as she could feel the phone booth lower down into the ground and picking up speed to its destination.

As the phone booth landed in the Atrium Lily could see that the area was virtually empty. She knew that You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters would think they might be arrogant and comfortable enough in their rule over the Ministry to not leave a guard to watch the Atrium at night. Yet they weren't too stupid to leave two Dementors near the main doors into the Ministry.

"Dammit." Lily whispered softly. She knelt down and slowly opened the booth door, crawling out and finding a dark place to hug the wall. She didn't know if the Dementors would see her because of the threstral hairs, leather, and many invisible or concealment charms. She just had to hope for the best.

The two soul-suckers floated above the huge fountain in the center of the Atrium. It had been changed since Voldemort took over the Ministry. Instead of humans, house elves, and centaurs it had the Dark Lord himself in the center with his arms held high while a witch and wizard were on their knees with chains around their necks with the letter "M" on their chests. Standing next to Voldemort was a few transformed werewolves that looked like they were howling at the moon.

For Lily she had the advantage to the many offices that were on both sides of the fountain were not lit. Many clusters of light (magical or muggle generated) would give her away. It also helped that the walls were made with slick black shiny marble all throughout the Ministry. As she got close to the all line of fireplaces where normally employees would enter were not lit, she took her chance and quickly picked up her pace to get to the lifts on the other side of the Atrium.

With a flick of her arm her wand appeared out from its holster. So now it would seem like the wand was waving independently without a master. She casted '_Muffliato_' around her and slip to the lift. After slowly opening up the gates and getting herself inside, she pressed the button for the department. Arriving to the level nine and casting '_Incendio_' on the little aeroplane messages, she arrived at the Department of Mysteries. She quietly opened up the black door and started to sneak down the corridor, seeing only a little bit of blue flame that would be the circular room with all of the department doors. To the untrained eye, all of the doors looked identical in every single way. But for Lily, for the brief time she's been here on a special student trip with some of the other top students in school. They got to go on a tour of the Ministry and a few rooms of the Department of Mysteries. She could remember every detail of everything and everyone because of a special talent that she kept to herself.

She had the ability of remember everything or Eidetic memory.

The Time Room was always next to the Death Room. Always to its right. She thought as she pulled something from inside of her jacket. It looked like an ordinary Swiss-Army knife but it could open practically any door or lock. It was a present from Sirius for one Christmas at school. She had only used it to sneak into the Potion storage room at Hogwarts to get all of the ingredients for Remus's Wolfsbane Potion that they were secretly brewing. Took five years to prefect it.

The keyhole clicked and the door opened to the sounds of ticking. After stuffing the knife back in her jacket she tried to meld herself to the dark walls as she hears the ticking get louder and louder. Shimmering from the back end of the room was a beautiful dancing sparkling diamond bell-jar that stood on the vast lengthy table that almost took up all of the room. The bell-jar's lights showed many faces of the thousands of clocks on the sides of the walls, floating in mid-air, and even on the same table.

The area where the Time-Turners displayed dangling in mid-air was a few Unspeakables. As Lily crept over slowly towards them she could hear them in hushed voices. It was easily to pick that it was Crouch Jr., his fiancée, Electra Lestrange, and Remus Lupin. _Still Imperiused._ Lily thought sadly. To see her friend to be used for his knowledge and his condition on an invisible mental lease just tore her in two. Remus has to be rescued no matter what.

With the flick of her wrist, her willow wand presented itself in hand. Moving close to an inlet that might give her more cover to the the Death Eater Unspeakables.

" That such a fixed time, Barty?" The snotty voice of Electra echoed. " Why would the Lord need something from nineteen-ninety-four? He has it all. The Ministry, Hogwarts, and practically the overlord of all of Britain!" She was looking at something dangling from her hands. It seemed to have a long chain hanging from her fingers with some kind of orb in her palm.

" It is not for us to know, love. But with our dear dog, Remus here, we can complete. The only reason you and your family are alive so you can help us for our Lord, yes?" Barty asked Remus coyly.

"I serve the Dark Lord to keep my wife and son alive." Remus's voice sounded very dull. He sounded eerily like a robot.

" And we thank you for your cooperation, Remus." Barty laughed. Lily could see him holding up something circular in his hand. It suddenly dropped to reveal it was on a gold chain. " My sweet with the new changes to this Turner. Normally the Time-Turner can only take you back long enough within the user's lifespan."

"So you can't go one or two hundred years in the past." Electra nodded. Lily's enchanted goggles were from a hunting store that could be zooming in. She made merged it with Omnioculars so with the twitch of her nose, the goggles would zoom in for her. She could see it was a grand looking Time-Turner over the regular ones that were dangling above the party of three. It was different from the two more rings on the outside with two arrowed hands in the middle of the Turner that was a large emerald encased in the inner ring. There were details in ancient runic, Latin, and English of years, months, days, the two equinoxes, and looked like glowing numbers that was keeping the current time.

" Exactly. Because you could end up as a puddle of goo. That is what happened when Nott tried it when the Turner returned them back to the present. Last thing I've heard is that Nott's son put his father's gooey-"remains" in an urn." Barty smirked. " But with these moonstones that of course help with time-dilatations because of the phases of the Moon." He pointed to three little moonstones in the fourth ring. "The same with the sun stones as well. But with what our Lord wants with that year... We'll just have to think whatever he is planning might be something that give us an advantage before two-thousand-two."

_The prophecy... THIS is what it meant? The one made over thirty years ago?_ Lily's mind gasped.

Twin sets of red beams jetted from Lily's wands to the two Death Eaters. The jet of red light hit Electra in the middle of her chest; she flew through the dangling Time-Turners and hitting hard against the wall. The second beam somehow aimed at the Time-Turner in Barty's hand and the red light bounced to the ceiling. A loud explosion from the marble and stone breaking up; starting to fall.

"Ella!" Barty cried looking back at his fiancée.

Lily finally revealed herself in the open and jumped onto the long table; racing over to Crouch Jr as quick as she could. A different red beam was hulled at her but easily bounced off of her chest. Lily again used one of the Weasley's inventions to put permanent Shield Charms on her clothing for spells just like that. She didn't want Remus to try to duel her as well so she hit him with two Stupefy spells as well. Also knocking him into the wall.

Barty roared in frustration and making a get-a-way to the back door of the Time Room with the new Time-Turner still in hand. He didn't look back to see if Electra was all right.

Seeing the door wide open Lily could see Crouch Jr. run out and seemed to light up the circular room. After dodging a few time-turners that were going backwards and forwards of being solid to broken and back to solid again; she jumped off the table and ran for the door. "Sorry Moony." She said to the unconscious wizard as she passed by him. Before she knew it she dodged a weak Jelly-Legs Curse before seeing the only open door was the Death Room.

Barty Jr. had to be in there. She thought and snuck into the shadows again as she edged into the Death Room. The vastness of the sunken in amphitheater room with the old stone archway was perfect for Lily's invisibility but as long as she didn't descend down the steps.

"Come on now, mudblood! You have to be one to go after a Death Eater so eagerly, ya?" Barty Jr. yelled to the open room, his voice echoing. He was a few steps from the platform that held the archway. He could probably hear the little whispers coming from the semi-transparent veil inside of the archway. But he couldn't let it distract him.

_Easy. _Just _blast him and he'll go into the veil._ Lily thought. She had never killed anyone but this had to be an exception. The prophecy, the time-turner, and herself were all on the line now. There was no time to mentally debate herself out of it.

She rose up and got into visible view for the Death Eater. " Just give me the Time-Turner Crouch and we'll call this a day."

"AH! The Evans bitch! We all thought you went back to those American blood-mixer wizards and witches! They easily accepted you, aye?" Barty finally stood on the platform. "Well it won't be long now till the Dark Lord will go after other wizarding communities abroad. Salem sounds like a good start, yes?"

With that Lily speeded down the steps towards him, firing out hexes and jinxes as fast as her mind could mentally cast the spells. Barty was no idiot to the explosiveness of Lily Evans' dueling style. He quickly semi-apparated when the spells could be a few feet away and pop on different steps.

Spells and apparitions filled up all of the Death Room. Shouts from Barty of how everyone rejoiced in Severus Snape's death. How he was there when Lily's parents were tortured and killed by his fiancée and himself shortly after he proposed to Electra. How it was on the Dark Lord's interest to eliminate any Phoenix resisters by killing family, friends, and have them tortured by Lord Voldemort himself before he would let the Dementors have the captives as soul-dinners.

"Stop it, you bastard!" Lily roared, kicking off the step and practically flying at Barty Crouch Jr. She collided onto him and they easily fall down; inches near the veil.

Lily held one of her wands in a closed fist and punched Barty square in the face. While that hand was hitting the other was grabbing for the Time-Turner. " You'll wish you were dead by the time… I AM! DONE! WITH! YOU!" She roared with teeth bared like a cat. Her fist was being stained with blood and Barty's resistance slowed down.

" **BARTY**! _Avada Kedavra_!" A loud shrill voice of Electra Lestrange called out and a large flashing green light was aiming right at Lily.

As Lily heard the words called out, with her holding the Time-Turner with Barty's fingers on it as well, the only thing she could do was duck onto of the Death Eater. But the Killing Curse didn't hit the two duelists, it hit the Veil itself. The usual ghostly whispers from it suddenly screamed and the off-white aura from it suddenly shined green.

When the two made contact, the whole room exploded like a bomb; making all levels above the Death Room rumble vibrate like it was an earthquake.


	5. Bathilda Bagshot

Author's Notes: Got to put it out there. Don't own Harry Potter, its scenarios, its characters, etc. It is owned by the lovely JK Rowling and she deserves everything that she has given us to fall in love with. I am only borrowing her characters for a little bit.

**Not the World That I Used to Know**

Chapter 5: Bathilda Bagshot

There were swarms of people talking, whispering, in duels, or saying their last words from going through the veil. Was it the veil? Lily didn't seem dead. Was the Killing Curse somehow rebounded on the veil and shot the three of them in some kind of limbo?

"_Lily, get Harry and run! Hide! I'll stall him!" _A familiar voice called out to her. The voice seemed to be someone from school but sounded older, male, and frightened.

_Who's Harry?_ She contemplated until she saw the all too familiar flashing green light of the Killing Curse striking the person. Only the man did was drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes. From the haziness from whatever was clouding her eyesight she could make out the facial features of the man. She could see large circular spectacles and very messy black hair.

_Potter?_

Then the whirling of the mass of green and off-white swirled around her. She could faintly see Barty Crouch Jr. and his fiancée swirling around like the symbols of ying and yang. She could see blood that she had put onto Electra's forehead from the stunning spells back in the Time Room.

_"Avada Kedavra!"_

**Godric's Hollow, West Country, England**

"Ma'am? Ma'am? Are you alright?"

Lily's eyes woke up, blurred, looking up at a muggle man who was wearing autumn clothing. Her ears could slowly hear that people were around, muttering to themselves.

"Yes, I..." She smacked her lips, noticing that they were very dry. "Where am I?"

" Godric's Hollow, miss. Ya took a nasty fall there." The man, grabbing her arms to slowly pull her up onto her feet on the pavement. " Someone thought you appeared out of thin air."

Lily's eyes finally adjusted and saw the small crowds of older people were gawking at her. Seeming to be eyeing and pointing at her pitch black wardrobe. "Well thank you, sir. I do suffer from a slight case of anemia so my blood sugar must have been low." She tried to put on a gentle smile to the man. Inside of her mind, hearing the words '_Godric's Hollow' _was making her warning bells in her head ring.

After convincing the man and the crowd that she was okay, she went into the local restaurant that she knew served fish and chips with her favorite side of tar-tar sauce. As she went into the lavatory and changed into some more appropriate clothing. Stuffing her 'stealth' outfit into her baggy to get out some jeans, faux-fur black boots that were so comfortable on the inside for her feet, a black jumper, and a pair of old jeans with some fading wear and tear. Just to make sure she pulled out and dusted off her blue-jean jacket. It had a simple handmade patch of Gryffindor on the pocket. Soon after changing clothes and adding a fuzzy black fedora to cover her hair. She really didn't feel like using magic in a mostly non-magical community.

Finally finishing eating and put a few pounds as a tip. A habit she had picked up from almost ten years in America. "Tipping the service people always equates to better service." A friend of hers that she made shortly after taking refuge in America told her. She started to walk the small community and tried to find the cottage that was Severus' hideout. If she really didn't die from the Veil and could be in nineteen-ninety-four, the cottage would still being used by Albus Dumbledore. She knew that this was his old home before he became Headmaster at Hogwarts.

_ Oh lord. Dumbledore is alive._ Lily suddenly thought as she stopped in front of the cottage. What she expected to see a children's story description of a country cottage was washed away from the state she saw it in. Her mouth hung open as she saw that the house was leaning towards its right side, window shudders barely hanging onto their hinges, the entire top of the cottage was blown off. Like a huge bomb had gone off from within it. "How in Merlin's beard did it..." Her eyes started to water up. Did Crouch and Lestrange arrive here alive and started on their rampage early?

" Girl, no one says his name like here with _them _around!"

Lily turned to see an old woman with snow-white hair in long locks, slowly shuffling over to Lily with a slight limp and with the oversized clothing she was wearing to keep warm. If it wasn't for the fact the older woman was looking frantic like a manticore was running after she, she looked very familiar. Very...

"Bathilda Bagshot?"

The woman stopped in her tracks. Her old eyes squinted to look at the younger woman. " It can't be..." Her voice cracked, forgetting about the fact that she came over there to rack the woman over the head for saying the ancient wizard's name. "You're dead."

_Okay, the Veil could be tricking me._ Lily's face instantly stiffened and tried to slowly shift her weight just in case she needed to duel. Godric's Hollow or not, she is not running into another Death Eaters' trap. " Why should I be dead?"

Bathilda's eyes couldn't help but look in awe at the woman that could be Lily Potter. She turned on her heel and started to walk to the center of the village. "Come and you'll see."

The only thing Lily could do was to follow the woman but kept her distance from Bagshot. As she looked around, she finally noticed that the stores and homes were getting themselves ready for Halloween. Small and large pumpkins were in store windows or near doors. Cardboard ghosts and skeletons decorated in the windows as well. Cobwebs were placed in various places that could get people a holiday laugh if they got caught in it. _It's almost my birthday._

"Well, girl." Bagshot called out to Lily who was clearly dazing out from what was more important than Muggle decorations. Lily snapped to attention to look at what was so important to this old cook of a woman. At first it looked like an obelisk covered in names, probably some kind of war memorial; a statue of three people appeared: a man with untidy hair and glasses, a woman with long hair and a kind, pretty face, and a baby boy sitting in his mother's arms.

It was her. With a baby... With Potter?

Lily's look of shock made Bagshot make the determination that something was amist but it wasn't this woman. " You really don't know do ya, Lily Potter?"

"My name is Lily _EVANS_. You could beg me to marry Potter! Are you kiddin' me?!" Lily's heart was beating into her ears. Her years living in Muggle society and apparently the technological advances from her made her think. The Veil in the Death Room had made her go through an alternate reality. She hated Potter with all of her being and now. A statue of them with a boy?

"Don't yell now, child! All right, Ms._ Evans_. Lets go inside, you need a cuppa I think." Bagshot went over to Lily and gently held onto the woman's arms as they walked back down into the residential area and to Bagshot's home.

After getting into the old cottage of Bathilda Bagshot and instantly waving her wand around for some hot tea, Lily finally started to calm down. The tiny woman had gotten Lily _Evans _to her table and put down the tea tray and started to pour some tea into two cups. " I am sorry for your fright my dear but I just had to make sure."

Lily watched blankly as Bathilda passed the tea to her and picked it up, her usually steady hand shaking like a leaf. " Sure of what?"

Bathilda sat down herself and shifted so she could sit easier. A few of her bones popped loud enough to make the both of them jump. " Well I've been in this village for years, my dear. I've been here since the Dumbledores moved from Mould-on-the-Wold to the cottage you appeared in front of." The author of "_History of Magic_" seemed to naturally go into her historian lecture pace. " I've seen the woes of the death of Ariana Dumbledore, the rise and fall of my great-nephew Gellert Grindelwald search for power. Albus defeated him you know." She added the extra detail to see if Lily was paying attention. She smiled weakly as the young woman was gulping down the tea with her eyes locked on Bathilda. " I had to make sure ye weren't some person who is under Poly-Juice Potion." She finally got to the point, she sighed sadly. "Well from that, oh the days, when Tom Riddle became You-Know-Who..."

Lily suddenly flinched and whipped her head around frantically, her red mane of hair in a quick blur. After a moment of no Death Eaters appearing, she looked at Mrs. Bagshot amazed. "Why didn't anyone come?"

"Why would anywho come, dear?" Bagshot asked with one raised barely visible eyebrow.

"The D.E.s! No one says "You-Know-Who" without them poppin' up!" Lily's shakes started to overcome her again. The cup of empty tea seemed to be barely holding onto dear life to stay together.

"D. E.?" Bagshot asked. It took her a moment to put two and two together. "OH the Death Eaters, ya mean?" She saw Lily jump again, almost trying to get up from her chair. "Dear, dear! Calm down! No one is going to pop in! You-Know-Who and his followers are gone!"

That stopped Lily dead. "How?"

"Your... Son." Bagshot slowly said, seeing that Lily grimaced at the word of the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Just give me the condense version, please." Lily slowly sat back down in her chair and released the cup back onto it saucer.

"I will try young lady but are you willing to understand the events you have dropped into?" Mrs. Bagshot smiled and started about the story of the First Wizarding War and of Lily's son, Harry Potter.

Later that night

The two women waited til nightfall for them to go inside of the blown out cottage. Against Bathilda's advice of course but Lily had to see. After the long explanation of how her other self had died to save her son, Lord Voldemort had somehow disappeared and for the last fourteen years have been nothing but calm for the British Wizarding world. Until she found in a few months old copy of the _Daily Prophet_ about Death Eaters rampaging through the campgrounds at the Quidditch World Cup and setting up the Dark Mark on the area.

" So you think that the D... Death Eaters might be tryin' to bring back You-Know-Who?" Lily asked, standing in the middle of the rumble of the home. Saw a few toys, some books muggle and magical-alike tossed and burnt.

" I personally think it might be the former members tryin' to have a show but... Albus said there was a possibility." Bathilda said solemnly.

" Then I got to go see him. Dumbledore is Headmaster at Hogwarts, yes?"

"Of course! No better wizard for the position!" Bathilda exclaimed.

Lily flattened her lips to a thin line. She did that when she was starting to conjure up a plan. "Alright, I'll be goin' then."

"What? You just can't walk into Hogwarts to see the Headmaster! Do you know WHO YOU ARE?" Bagshot asked totally shocked. _What an idea. The mother of Harry Potter, or the blood of Harry Potter, coming into Hogwarts like she owned the place!_

But before Bathilda could protest anymore, Lily apparated away.


	6. Great Hall Duel

Author's Notes: Got to put it out there. Don't own Harry Potter, its scenarios, its characters, etc. It is owned by the lovely JK Rowling and she deserves everything that she has given us to fall in love with. I am only borrowing her characters for a little bit.

**Not the World That I Used to Know**

Chapter 6: Great Hall Duel

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

Tuesday; October 27, 1994

" Don't talk to me," Ron said quietly to Harry and Hermione as they sat down at the Gryffindor table, surrounded by excited talks on all sides about what just happened with Draco Malfoy and Professor Moody at the entrance hall.

"Why not?" said Hermione in surprise.

"Because I want to fix that into my memory forever," said Ron, his eyes closed and an uplifted expression on his face. "Draco Malfoy, the amazing bouncing ferret..."

Harry and Hermione both laughed, and Hermione began doling beef casserole onto each of their plates." He could have really hurt Malfoy, though," she said. "It was good, really, that Professor McDonagall stopped it-"

"Hermione!" said the youngest red-head Weasley boy furiously, his eyes snapping open again, "you're ruining the best moment of my life!"

Hermione made an impatient noise and began to eat at top speed again.

"Don't tell you're going back to the library this evening?" said Harry, watching her.

"Got to," said Hermione thickly. "Loads to do."

"But you told us Professor Vector -"

"It's _**not **_schoolwork!" she said sternly at the boys. Within five minutes, she had cleared her plate and departed. As could see from the edge of her eyes that Fred Weasley had a taken her seat to speak to the boys. She would just have to show the boys about her huge project that she was overtaking by herself. How dare they have house-elves working without any kind of pay, better garbs to wear other than potato sacks, and their living conditions. And here at Hogwarts of all places!

_Maybe I should go on a hunger strike._ She thought then scratched that out of her mind. She would have to sneak into the kitchens to get food that was already prepared by the house-elves. _Maybe I could sneak into Hogsmeade and get a few things?_ Idea number two scratched out. After a few moments and several staircases to the library later, she had to give in that she had to eat at the tables. She knew that if she sent an owl to her parents they would probably think that the school is starving her and would try to only send food that were good for her health and her teeth. She did have a huge sweet tooth that she kept from her parents once she got a taste from Honeydukes in Hogsmeade.

After finding that only a few students were in the library and trying to avoid Madam Pince as much as possible, she got herself a seat and put her school bag down. She waved her wand to make all of her books, parchments, quills, and notebooks arrange themselves neatly before she went on the prowl about Wizarding laws.

Hermione started to skim through the different titles of anything that might be helpful about house-elves and magical creatures laws. Yet the only thing she could from the vast tomes were little articles and bills about how to make muggle-hunting legal by Araminta Meliflua. "Disgusting." She shook her head, her bushy brown hair followed for a moment got in her eyes.

"Oops!"

Hermione quickly looked over to the restricted section to see the door had been unlocked and could barely see a figure standing between bookcases. Whoever it is was seemed to fade in and out like a ghost.

"Hello? You know that no one aren't allowed in the Restricted Section for a reason." said Hermione sternly. If she couldn't get into there without any of the teacher chastising her, no one else could.

The figure, no more than five bookshelves tall slowly turned its head in the young Gryffindor's direction and put a semi-transparent finger near where its lips would be.

"Madam Pince! There's someone in the Restricted Section!" It was the only thing Hermione could think of. Maybe it was one of the Death Eaters that had somehow gotten into the castle and looking up some dark art secrets.

"Miss Granger!" The voice of the harpy-looking witch bellowed from her desk as she practically ran over to Hermione's location. "No shouting in **MY** library! Do you ever listen girl?"

"But, Madam Pince!" Hermione's eyes widen in fear. She didn't want to start off her fourth year with detention with the librarian. Even though she loved books all of her life she didn't need to spend three or four hours manually sorting and relabeling books. All she could do was point to the open door where whoever it was had used some kind of slicing spell to break through the lock and chains.

When Madam Pince finally got over and looked at the scene, her eye widened lividly with a slight twitch. Under the pitch black darkness of the restricted section she saw many of the older books scattered all over the ground, seeing a few pages torn out and could easily see that some of the books were missing because of the current count from the shelves to the floors. "Miss Granger, inform the Headmaster we have either Peeves or a student breaking into the Restricted Section."

"Yes ma'am!" Hermione quickly got all of her books and items back in her school bag and ran out of the library while accidently hitting Millicent Bulstrode's pig-sized cheeks, making her fall to the ground.

"Dammit, Granger!"

After informing both Professor McGonagall and Headmaster Dumbledore; all Hermione could do was go back to the Gryffindor Common Room. There she saw Fred and George trying to get some first-years to sign up for product testing; Harry and Ron sitting at a table near the fireplace with loads of scrunched up parchments all around them. It seems to be Divination homework.

"Harry!" She yelled excitingly.

Both boys look over to Hermione and saw her do something she never has done since day one of her time at Hogwarts. She dropped her bags in the middle of the common and darted towards them. She didn't care that it had spilt over parchment, quills, and her homework planner.

"What's wrong Hermione?" asked Ron, still amazed that his friend just dropped her schoolwork like a sack of potatoes.

" I saw something... Someone in the Restricted Section." Hermione quickly explained as she picked up Harry's schoolbag and was frantically looking for something. " I mean, it was there and not there at the same time."

That got Harry's attention real quick with asking, " Baggort?"

"Oh Harry, I know baggorts love dark places but I don't think they ever had the sudden urge to read a book." Hermione huffed with a look to him like he grown a second head. "Where is it...Where is... Here!" She pulled out a large brochure of parchments and with her wand she said to it, " I solemnly swear I'm up to no good." Suddenly the parchment folds out like an accordion.

"Whoa Hermione!" The boys scrabbled to cover the map from would-be on lookers that were still out with the Weasley twins. " You just can't open it like that!" Harry hissed. "What are you looking for anyway?"

"Who or what it was, of course." Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry before she looked through without slowing down. Her eyes darted everywhere that a name would present itself. Filch and his cat Mrs. Norris were stalking down the seventh floor corridor. After unfolding where the first floor would be, there was nothing. She could see Hagrid was in his hut with Fang. The label with Fang's name on it had a dog-collar around it.

Harry and Ron looked from the map and onto Hermione skeptically. "There's nothing, Hermione. You're just too exhausted from Professor Vector's workload and now you're imaging things." said Ron.

" You give up too easy, Ronald." Hermione barked and pulled back a few pages so she was looking at the third floor where the Hospital Wing was. Then just as she was fixing to turn the page, she saw two gray letters appearing. She could barely see that it read "L. E."

"There!" Hermione pointed to the wandering name to the boys. As all three looked at the "L.E." it was leaving the Hospital Wing and leaving down the moving staircase. "Now you believe me?"

" It could be a ghost. I mean, Peeves shows up on the map as well." Harry said calmly and pointed to seeing a crazy floaty name of "Peeves" going through the maps' castle walls and rooms. " It be one of the few hundred ghosts that live here, right?"

Right then Hermione knew she was loosing this fight. She knew that sometimes ghosts can make them visible, invisible, and everything in-between. But since last year with disregarding the floating name of Peter Pettigrew who turned out to be the one who sold Harry's parents out for the Dark Lord; she didn't want to take chances. Especially this year with what is going on with this "Tri-Wizarding Tournament" with the different schools coming. This person or thing could go past everyone's radar.

"Night Hermione, have a good time ghost-hunting!" Ron yawned and it made Hermione snap out of her mind. She turned to look that the table Harry and Ron were studying on was cleaned off and they were heading up to their dormitories.

Wednesday; October 28,1994

**Department of International Magical Cooperation**

**Employee Bartemius Crouch found dead!**

It was the talk all throughout breakfast the next morning. All of personal and mail owls were in an aerial traffic fight to deliver to their masters as fast as possible. Even the teachers' morning attitude was different as they discussed the sudden death.

" 'It was with heavy heart that the last of the Crouch family is not longer with us'," Ron quoted from his own copy of TheDailyProphet. " Too bad it couldn't have read that for the Malfoys."

"Ronald! Hermione frazzled as she turned the page. " Says here that, from his personal assistant Percy Weasley..."

"Don't say his name! The prat!" Two voices barked in unison further down the Gryffindor table. Nobody had to figure out who said that.

"We'll never hear the end of him and his job with the Ministry," said Ron and nudged Hermione. "What else?"

" Okay, okay. Umm... Oh!" Hermione saw something in the paper. " 'Aurors can confirm that he was killed with the Killing Curse. Nothing in his house was touched or removed. Close friends of the deceased said that if it wasn't for the house-elf, Winky, who was already dismissed from service because of performing magic from a wizard's wand at the Quidditch World Cup, would have been the first to be suspected on her master's death.' " Her eyes narrowed angrily at the Ministry would even THINK a house-elf would do such a thing.

" So there's a possibility he was killed by Death Eaters?" asked Harry.

" Could be. It just seems so random doesn't it?" Hermione shrugged and folded her paper up putting in her schoolbag.

Ron swallowed some of the last bacon on his plate. " Wouldn't he had been here at the Tournament? Since it is international and everything. Maybe someone from Durmstrang had a grudge or something."

Harry watched the exchange between his friends about the possible suspects over the death. He agreed with Hermione that dismissing Winky was horrible because of the claim of her using his wand to cast the Dark Mark. The term had barely started and the death toll was starting to pile up. All he could feel is an eerie feeling that something is coming. Something was starting.

Later that night...

" Oi! Hold it!" Ron quickly grabbed some roast that Dean Thomas and Seamus were trying to hoard for their plates.

It was early evening and supper was underway. The students were chatting mainly about these foreign witches and wizards coming to their school for the whole year. Draco Malfoy was bragging how his father knows the Headmaster of Durmstrang personally and that the Slytherins will impress the students.

At the teacher's table everyone was eating and chatting casually to one another. Mad-Eye Moody was sitting next to Professor Dumbledore. Moody seemed to have his normal paranoia face distort his face even more. He was looking at the empty chair where the Potions master normally sat at. He had noticed that Professor Snape was currently absent. " I do not see how you can let Snape wander around the castle like this, Albus. If I was still active-duty I would be tailing him throughout the whole day."

"Alastor, I can understand how you still have issues with Severus' past but he has changed," Professor Dumbledore smiled as he put a fork into the roast on his plate. "He has had years to repent for the errors of his past. You should give him a chance."

" When hell freezes over," Moody growled. " We all know what he is."

"Alastor," Dumbledore looked over his crescent moon spectacles onto Moody's remaining eye. " People can change if they are willing too. It is the ones that don't that we should worry about."

As Moody was fixing a retort, a loud boom went off from somewhere outside of the Great Hall. Several students and teachers quickly looked to see Peeves flying through the Great Hall at a rather faster pace than normal. Following him was the Bloody Baron and the Fat Friar.

"Headmaster!" Fat Friar yelled, his monk robes were twisted around his neck, he was gasping for air as he tried to pull them off but it was useless. " Someone! Is in! GAH! The castle!"

**BOOM!**

Nearly-Headless Nick flew into the Great Hall at full speed. His ghostly trails whipped around the Headmaster's chair in fright. " Professors!" Headless Nick whispered. " It's him, one from Azkaban... He's suppose to be-"

He was cut off when Mr. Filch and his cat familiar dashed into the Great Hall and hid in-between the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. " It's Crouch! Back from the dead!"

All staff members quickly drew their wands as a tall, pale, slender man with a dirty mop of straw-colored hair and freckles. His piercing brown eyes looked straight ahead towards the teachers table. "Albus Dumbledore, long time no see, sir." He drew out his wand and simply pointed it to the Headmaster. Children from Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw quickly hopped out of their seats or jump over their tables to get to the walls and hide behind the Gryffindor and Slytherin students.

"Crouch!" Professor Moody had his wand out as well, trying to walk behind the teachers to head towards the small set of steps to the floor. "You're supposed to be dead!"

" So I've heard about me. Well if it is the chance then, a second chance to kill you then." Crouch Jr. boasted, grinning from ear to ear. He twirled his wand and started to make hand motions to seem to be 'Stupefy' before something behind him blasted on his back; making him flop onto the old stone floor and skid down the table aisles.

All of the professors looked up to see how had attacked Crouch Jr. to only see a short person wearing nothing but black. Before Crouch could look behind him the person had two drawn wands and pointed them both at all the students. Suddenly the tables had levitated themselves off the ground and the legs plastered against the walls over ten feet from the ground. As one wand did that spell work the other made motions towards the students; making two large transparent magical orbs around the students against the wall. The intruder then did the same thing to the teachers' table and casted the same kind of magical orb cage around the staff.

"Oh how clever," Barty Jr. stood up, flinching from the effects from the Stunning spell. " Caging up my fun, huh? You want a one-on-one duel? Well," he winced as he went into a fighting stance. "On guard."

The black-clad intruder did something rather unexpected for a trained wizard or witch. The wands were put away and simply started in a full sprint towards the Death Eater. Barty Jr. started to fire off spells one right after the other yet the person was managing to dodge them by something in the gloves that acted as a shield. The hands would slap the spell away and hit against the areas of wall that wasn't protected. Stone and debris blasted out and pounced against the magical field shielding the windows and the students.

The reaction time of the the black intruder was remarkable. Finally when the bombardment of spells were deflected, all most people could see was that the intruder hit Barty Jr. square in the chest with both hands fisted. It made the Death Eater stagger back but before he knew it, he could see a blur of a foot kicking his wand out of his hand. Before he could even try to make a break for the wand, the person spin around and kicked him with the other foot in the collarbone. Gasping for breath that time, he backed up, one hand trying to protect his throat.

" Wait!" He managed to muster up being hit in the stomach and the intruder was literally climbing onto him like a monkey.

The weight was just enough to make Barty and the intruder fall backwards with black leather holding Batry's head in a headlock. Between Barty's failed attempts to make words and the the boots holding him firmly in place. The intruder laid on its stomach and looked down at Barty, who was squirming with all of his might to get free of its grip.

" Wait! Ella-" A loud snapping sound reverberated throughout the Great Hall with a sudden motion of the intruder's legs and feet to snap Barty's neck. The intruder finally looked down at the shocked expression coming from the Death Eater's eyes as it laid in an unnatural angle on top of the black leather boot.

Everyone, human or half-breed or ghost, looked at the scene in awe. One person had managed, in a very unconventional way, to take down a Dark Wizard. Especially of one like Barty Crouch Jr. Everyone watched as the black-clad intruder slowly unlocked the legs from around Barty's head and stood up. It surveyed the crowd around in the protective bubbles that it had casted onto everyone. It could see that one at the teacher's table Moody was trying with all his might to take down the bubble. He looked as mad with Professor McDonagall and Professor Flitwick were trying to calm him down and restrain him at the same time.

What was not expecting was a sudden red light coming from behind, spinning around but was able to absorb for the full force of the '_Stupefy_' spell. The figure was able to keep its balance to see someone tall in pitch black robes who was firing out more red flashes.

The first two were deflected by the hands before knowing it, somehow the tall man had casted a full blown '_Petrificus Totalus_' onto the intruder. The limbs snapped to the sides and fell onto the old stone floor of the Great Hall. The last thing the intruder could see or hear was the person walking casually up and said softly yet deadly, " Stupify Maxima."

Suddenly all the lights went out.


End file.
